(1) Caruana,Fabiano (2832) - Carlsen,Magnus (2835) [B31]
2018 World Championship London (1), 09.11.2018
[Sam Shankland]

Greetings to all! This is Sam Shankland, and I'll be annotating most of the games of the World Championship match here for Chess.com. I was on Magnus Carlsen's team for his previous matches, but this one I have no role in whatsoever, so I can speak much more freely as a full spectator without any inside information. I was pleased to see that the first game featured some real fighting chess, and hope this trend continues in the upcoming games. 1.e4 c5 The first surprise. Caruana is mostly a 1.e4 player, but the Sicilian is a rare guest in Carlsen's repertoire. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 White avoids the main lines of the Open Sicilian that might arise after 3.d4. Nowadays at the top level, the Rossolimo is as good a chance to fight for an edge as any of White's other tries. 3...g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bg7 6.h3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nd7 Presumably an improvement over their previous encounter from some years ago. [7...b6 Magnus chose this move in a game against Caruana back in 2015. He won very nicely, but the opening could have gone a lot worse. 8.Be3 e5 And now instead of castling, Caruana could have more less won the game with 9.Nxe5! Nxe4 When the silent killer 10.Qf3! Is a serious problem for Black to deal with] 8.Be3 e5 9.0-0 [9.Qd2 White can also consider remaining flexible with the king. Sometimes it might want to go to the queenside.] 9...b6! I like this idea. Black prepares for Nf8-e6 before castling. 10.Nh2 Nf8 White more or less has to play f4 now- otherwise he will never manage once Black has played Ne6. 11.f4 exf4 12.Rxf4 Be6!? This was the first seriously notable moment of the game. I was very surprised Black would not want to put the knight on e6, but Carlsen had other ideas. His plan will be to play h6, g5, and Ng6. Then, depending on how White plays, he will castle on which side he feels is best. Around here I joined the live broadcast and said I already would prefer the black side of the position, though White is objectively not worse yet. 13.Rf2 h6! 14.Qd2 White develops another piece and pressures the h6 pawn, discouraging Black from castling kingside. [14.Nf3 The machine's proposal doesn't make any sense to me. What does the knight do here? Caruana's choice is much more human and was the move I expected during the game.] 14...g5! Another strong move. Black simply prepares to improve his pieces further, gaining space on the kingside and preparing for Ng6. 15.Raf1?! This was the first moment I really did not like Caruana's choice. While he is certainly not worse yet, it feels wrong to me to keep this square from the knight. It must be said that my computer disagrees with me. [15.Nf1 My idea during the broadcast was to try to bring the knight to g3 and f5. This is not a bad idea, but the wrong execution.; 15.Ne2!? Probably this enterprising pawn sacrifice is worth attention. White is ready for c3, Ng3, and Nf5.] 15...Qd6 16.Ng4 The computer hates Caruana's move here, but it's very consistent with his previous play. White eyes the squares on the weakened f-file. [Editor's note: This is the move Caruana criticized the most of his.] 16...0-0-0 17.Nf6 The knight is well placed, but soon removed. 17...Nd7! 18.Nh5 Be5! Around here I really thought Magnus would win the first game. White is horribly passive and will face serious issues on the kingside, which should soon open. The position became objectively lost at some point, but Caruana still must be praised for defending this position. 19.g4! The first good decision. White stops g5-g4 from Black, and it will not be easy for him to get h6-h5 through. 19...f6 20.b3 Bf7 21.Nd1 Nf8? Magnus got a little too creative for his own good. Even without the f6 pawn, his position remains strong, but there was no reason to give White anything for his suffering. [21...Rhg8 Looks simplest to me. Black prepares for Bxh5 followed by g5-g4. White faces a long and difficult defense.] 22.Nxf6 Now White at least has a pawn for his suffering, though his position soon deteriorated further. 22...Ne6 23.Nh5 Bxh5 24.gxh5 Nf4 25.Bxf4 gxf4 26.Rg2? Caruana had made some inaccuracies before to get into a mess, but this was the only decision I really did not understand. Even very strong players make mistakes and this is totally normal, but this particular one is hard to understand. White needed to give the exchange, at which point I might even prefer his position. [26.Rxf4! Bxf4 27.Qxf4© White has exchanged off the annoying dark squared bishop, has 2 very solid pawns for the exchange, and most importantly, his miserable knight that ewas dominated by the f4 pawn can come to e3 and then f5. The computer screams equal but I think any human would prefer the white side.] 26...Rhg8 27.Qe2 Rxg2+ 28.Qxg2 Qe6! A high-class move. Black will soon seize the g-file with Rg8. 29.Nf2 Rg8 30.Ng4 Qe8! Now White is in really bad shape. If he could save the h5-pawn he would probably be better, but once it is captured, h6-h5 will boot yhe g4-knight off its post and the g-file will open. In addition to the position to being objectively bad, it is much harder for White to play than for Black. 31.Qf3 Qxh5 32.Kf2 Bc7 33.Ke2? It's hard to criticize Caruana since his position was just difficult, but this was not best. [33.e5 Kb7 34.Nf6 Offered more saving chances, but it is very hard to play like a machine all the time. 34...Qh4+ 35.Ke2 Rg3 36.Qxf4 Qxf4 37.Rxf4 Bxe5 38.Rf5 Bxf6 39.Rxf6 Rxh3 40.Rf7+ White should probably hold.] 33...Qg5! Simple and strong. h5 is coming, the g-file will open. 34.Nh2 h5 35.Rf2 Up to this point Magnus had played quite a good game, though I imagine he will be mad at himself for Nf8. But around here, he started to drift. The move he played is good enough to win, but he missed the most incisive continuation. 35...Qg1? The first mistake is the one that makes the win more difficult, not the one that makes it no longer winning. [35...Qg7! Black was best advised to invade with his queen on the dark squares. White's position looks beyond saving to me.] 36.Nf1 The next few moves were marred by time pressure, but I think Magnus will not see this is a valid excuse for letting White off the hook. 36...h4? [36...Qg7! Was again strong] 37.Kd2 [37.e5! Would have opened White's queen. It's very hard to do this since it allows Black to make good use of the open e-file, but it was indeed best. 37...Rg5 38.Nd2! Rxe5+ 39.Ne4! Blocking the rook again, like it did from g4, but this time there is no pawn thrust to boot the knight away. 39...Qc1 40.Qxf4 Qxc2+ 41.Qd2 White is suffering, but has very good defensive chances.] 37...Kb7 38.c3 Be5 39.Kc2 Qg7? Paradoxically, the move Magnus needed to play previously now lets White off the hook. The position has changed and now it will not be the queen, but the bishop, that invades the queenside- a much less scary prospect for the first player. [39...a5 The best move was b5, but this looked the most human to me. Just make a move, keep the king safe, and wait for time control to find the winning way. 40.a4 Rg6 Something like this would allow Black more time to find a breakthrough, and White has no counterplay to worry about.; 39...b5 According to the machine, this move wins convicningly. And I don't really understand why. It's a hard move to grasp and almost impossible to find in time pressure.] 40.Nh2! Caruana has survived the worst of it and now has more time. The position remains unpleasant, but very defensible. 40...Bxc3 [40...Qg3 This might have been a better try, but it's a tough move to play. After 41.Ng4 Black must give an exchange with (41.Qe2! Qxh3 42.Nf3! Should be preferred. White is worse but hanging in there.) 41...Rxg4! 42.hxg4 h3 43.Qe2 And apparently this position is good for him, but this is hard for a human to do.] 41.Qxf4 Bd4 42.Qf7+! Ka6 43.Qxg7 Rxg7 44.Re2! The e-pawn secures enough counterplay to make a draw. 44...Rg3 45.Ng4! [45.e5? Bxe5 ] 45...Rxh3 46.e5 Rf3 47.e6 Rf8 48.e7 Re8 49.Nh6 h3 50.Nf5 Bf6 The last several moves have been absolutely forced. Now the best Black will ever get is a pawn up rook ending with h3 and e7 trading, which definitely should be a draw. 51.a3 b5 52.b4 cxb4 53.axb4 Bxe7 54.Nxe7 h2 55.Rxh2 Rxe7 I think one of Magnus' biggest mistakes of the game was not offering a draw on the spot here. He definitely is not going to win the game, he will be furious with himself for letting the full point slip, and giving him more time to emotionally recover before playing tomorrow probably would have been a better choice than playing on for 50 more moves, hoping for the 0.1% chance of winning to come into fruition. 56.Rh6 Kb6 57.Kc3 Rd7 58.Rg6 Kc7 59.Rh6 Rd6 60.Rh8 Rg6 61.Ra8 Kb7 62.Rh8 Rg5 63.Rh7+ Kb6 64.Rh6 Rg1 65.Kc2 Rf1 66.Rg6 Rh1 67.Rf6 Rh8 68.Kc3 Ra8 69.d4 Rd8 70.Rh6 Rd7 71.Rg6 Kc7 72.Rg5 Rd6 73.Rg8 Rh6 74.Ra8 Rh3+ 75.Kc2 Ra3 76.Kb2 Ra4 77.Kc3 a6 78.Rh8 Ra3+ 79.Kb2 Rg3 80.Kc2 Rg5 81.Rh6 Rd5 82.Kc3 Rd6 83.Rh8 Rg6 84.Kc2 Kb7 85.Kc3 Rg3+ 86.Kc2 Rg1 87.Rh5 Rg2+ 88.Kc3 Rg3+ 89.Kc2 Rg4 90.Kc3 Kb6 91.Rh6 Rg5 92.Rf6 Rh5 93.Rg6 Rh3+ 94.Kc2 Rh5 95.Kc3 Rd5 96.Rh6 Kc7 97.Rh7+ Rd7 98.Rh5 Rd6 99.Rh8 Rg6 100.Rf8 Rg3+ 101.Kc2 Ra3 102.Rf7+ Kd6 103.Ra7 Kd5 104.Kb2 Rd3 105.Rxa6 Rxd4 106.Kb3 Re4 107.Kc3 Rc4+ 108.Kb3 Kd4 109.Rb6 Kd3 110.Ra6 Rc2 111.Rb6 Rc3+ 112.Kb2 Rc4 113.Kb3 Kd4 114.Ra6 Kd5 115.Ra8 Both sides are probably unhappy with this game. Caruana for getting pushed around and barely surviving with White in the first game, and Carlsen for letting a full point slip. In general Magnus is the one I might worry about tilting a little more, but I think at least for now, both players will come tomorrow ready to play and having put this first game behind them. I look forward to seeing what may come! 1/2-1/2